Memory Quilt

I recently saw this post on Annie O's blog and it reminded me of a quilt that I finished in June of 2007.

This is one of 5 memorial quilts I made in 2006 & 2007. This quilt was made especially with my mother-in-law in mind. She had lost her husband after a long battle with scleroderma a few years prior. Most of the plaids in this quilt are scraps from my father-in-law's flannel shirts. I found the pattern "Diamonds Are Forever" in American Patchwork and Quilting's April 2004 issue. I designed and added the floral border using a needle turn applique technique.

This is the first quilt I made with complicated machine quilting designs. I mimicked the floral applique designs with quilted stitches on the two borders that did not have applique.

The picture above is of the large pocket I added so the quilt could be folded up on itself and used as a pillow.

All of my father-in-law's shirts had to have pockets to hold his reading glasses. I saved a few of these pockets and used them for the labels on each of the quilts.

This project brought back so many memories. Each Christmas my husband, his brothers and his father would get new matching flannel shirts. I wish I had the pictures to show you the guys hamming it up for the camera in their matching shirts.